Tyler Smith, a heart transplant recipient and LeBonheur patient, leads the Memphis Tigers through the traditional Tiger Walk at the Liberty Bowl before their game against UCF on Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. Joe Rondone/The Commercial Appeal

Sixth-year seniors Jackson Dillon and Sam Craft trekked through the pouring rain from the Memphis sideline to the Tigers' locker room after the clock expired on their heartbreaking 31-30 loss to No. 9 UCF Saturday.

"We had 'em," Dillon mouthed.

He wasn't the only one who felt that way.

The Tigers were ecstatic about an impressive first-half performance that saw their lead balloon to 13 points and energized a defense that struggled in the Tigers' previous two conference losses.

Then, at the outset of a downpour that would melt the Tigers' lead, the defense allowed a momentum-swinging fourth-and-1 opportunity deep in UCF territory to break for a 71-yard score.

It was UCF running back Taj McGowan who cut to the right and outran the stacked Memphis front. The dash sliced the Memphis lead to six with 2:41 left in the third quarter.

"That was a big play in the game," Memphis coach Mike Norvell said. "Obviously, they elected to take a risk and go for it. We were able to be in position, but they did a great job of executing and broke into the second level."

As Norvell pointed out, there's an added level of risk for a defense on fourth-and-short. With the entire defense focused on stuffing the runner, it leaves the defense more vulnerable on the back end.

"They were in their heavy personnel," Norvell said. "So everybody was just stacked tight, and usually if you can make a couple guys miss, big plays are capable of happening."

As deflating as it was for the Memphis defense, it was equally gutsy by UCF coach Josh Heupel. But at that point, he was determined to steal back momentum for his side.

"(We) had to punt on (a) previous drive," Heupel said. "Then you’re stuck in fourth-and-1: critical situation, two-possession game. You feel like you’ve got to make a play to help extend (the drive) and get some momentum on your side. It was also a manageable situation."

The Knights' failures on third down up to that moment added a touch of desperation. UCF entered the game ranked second in the nation in third-down conversion rate but converted on just 2 of 12 tries against Memphis.

Almost exactly one quarter later the Knights went for it on fourth down again, and it was McGowan who converted again. This time it was enough to drain another two minutes off the clock and give Memphis the ball with just over a minute remaining.

But the offense came up just short.

"You can look back to a lot of things in that game," Norvell said. "But there's no one play or one moment that cost us more than any other play would have."

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Memphis’ Damonte Coxie jukes out of bounds in the final seconds of their game against UCF at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn., Saturday, October 13, 2018.(Photo11: Joe Rondone/The Commercial Appeal)

It's the reason why Craft and Dillon's likely winless record against the Knights is such a gut punch. There were a couple of times, and a couple of years, that they "had 'em."

"We have to continue to put ourselves in a place that, when we get that time, when we're in that moment, that we can seal it," Norvell said.